Hollywood bed frames are commonly made with angle iron frame members which may be folded and/or disassembled for shipping or moving and which are adjustably assemblable to accommodate different sizes of mattresses. Such frames may be provided with center support rail members stretching between the cross rails for better support of King-size mattresses. It is desirable for assembly, disassembly, and adjustment purposes that the frame members be readily but firmly attached to one another, but without the use of loose nuts, bolts, clamps, clamp screws, or other elements, and without the use of tools.
Prior efforts to provide interlocking joints for such bed frames are best exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,775,783; 3,736,602; and 3,824,638. (Copies of the just-mentioned patents are enclosed.)
U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,783 discloses assembly joints for bed frame members having pairs of L-shaped slots opening to the edges of the members for engagement with pairs of projections on mating members, and these joints are assembled and disassembled by simple rectilinear motions of the mating joint members laterally and longitudinally relative to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,602 discloses assembly joints for bedframe members having pairs of slots disposed in mutual angular relation to one another for engagement with pairs of projections on mating members, and the joints are assembled and disassembled by a combination of a relative rectilinear motion between joint elements generally parallel to one of the slots to engage one mating projection therewith, followed by a relative rotary motion between elements to engage the other slot and projection. U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,638 discloses assembly joints for bed frame members having L-shaped and straight slots adjacent one another, similar to those of the present invention, for assembly by rectilinear relative motions of the joint members parallel to the two legs of the L-slot followed by relative rotary motion between the members, to engage a projection in each of the slots.
Various combinations of slots and projections have been provided in bed frame members for interlocking assembly, by the above-mentioned patents and others not so relevant, but none have provided the yieldable, snap-action retaining features of the present invention which ensure that any disassembly of the members will be purposeful and not accidental.